The new Christian church for the Science and Technology Eco-City of Zhangjiagang will be a reference point for the local community and a place that “glues” its people together. The design of the church is organized on a simple and innovative principle that offers both efficiency as well as unique formal and spatial qualities. Having in mind that architecture has both a spiritual and a physical dimension the new church will be a place that lifts the spirits but also orchestrates all the various programs in a functional unity. Our objectives are developed on three levels: the relation of the church with the surrounding environment, the spirituality of the sacred spaces and the functional arrangement of the various programs. 

The program of the new church apart from the chapel mayor is arranged in ten oval-shaped volumes. These volumes have various sizes and heights ranging from one to three floors according to the programs that they accommodate. Bringing the volumes close together in a protecting circle the space of the chapel mayor is created in the middle making an atmospheric refuge for worship. One of the oval volumes is reserved for the stage of the chapel mayor allowing for indirect light and views towards the lake but the rest of the volumes function as a buffer zone between the heart of the building and the outside - resembling bodies holding together.

The various sizes of the oval volumes offer a unique formal quality to the church making it stand out as a landmark for the area while at the same time scaling it down in order to blend with the surroundings. This results in a building which is both monumental and welcoming at the same time making it easy for the people of the community to associate with. The building sits comfortably in the topography of the site making advantage of its unique characteristics. Sitting half on land and half in the lake the church has a clear view around it and can be approached by land from the east but also along the lake from the west. The new building becomes part of the landscape scenery when walking on the footbridge crossing the lake at the west but also when driving along the north-south highway to the east. The church is positioned in the site in such a way as to make use of the existing greenfields to the north. 

The placement of the various programs around the chapel mayor results in an efficient circulation pattern. A corridor encircles the chapel mayor that starts and ends at the main entrance vestibule on the east side of the building. The corridor widens at parts to form smaller vestibules and lobbies for the surrounding rooms. In close proximity with the chapel mayor on ground floor it is placed the smaller chapel, prayers room, nursery, canteen, reception room and counseling room. Three cores around the church connect the ground floor with the rest of the services. The higher floors are placed to the north side of the building with the highest being that of the belfry.

The manipulation of light plays a central role in sacred spaces. The formal qualities one experiences outside the church are similar to the ones inside the chapel mayor but a very different atmosphere is achieved, one of spirituality, meditation and praying due to the indirect light around the walls. Attention is drawn towards the stage where natural light is more intense and vertical openings behind the choir make partial external views possible. Similarly the spaces of the smaller chapel and the prayer room use indirect light and views.

Authors: Not a Number Architects – NaNA
Type: Invited competition
Area: 4.500sqm
Architect in Charge: Ermis Adamantidis, Dominiki Dadatsi